Eggless quiche pie

This is a fantastic quiche style pie. For mine I used whatever vegetables I had including sweet potato which I steamed first, celery, onion, bok choy, frozen peas. I also pre-baked a shortcrust pastry base.

I also added a little vegetable stock to the vegetables in the pan before adding to the tofu mix.

Coffee and Date Loaf

Mmmmmmm. I was making a starter for my Jim Lahey bread with rye (on the left of the picture. To make it rye I add 1/2 cup of rye flour/meal and only 2 1/2 cups white flour. I also use the rye as the dusting flour), I added sunflower seeds and remembered my bakery days and the delicious coffee and date loaf. So I went searching and found this recipe. The only changes needed to make it vegan was to use dairy-free margerine and I replaced the egg with a heaped teaspoon of egg replacer. I also added a little extra baking soda.
This is a delicious bread/cake. Super moist and fairy simple. Definitely one to make for when friends come around. (On the right in the picture).

Vegan carrot cake

Most vegan carrot cakes call for pineapple, of which I had none. This one makes use of a syrup to add moisture and sweetness to the cake. Here is the recipe.

I also put on top a halved amount of this cream cheese frosting (and added some choc chips as decoration).

Eggplant

I have to call it aubergine as my darling 3 year old daughter won't eat it because "we don't eat eggs. It's not nice to the chickens".

Anyhow, I had one in the fridge, still pondering what to do with it as I have only tried them once, and it was awful.

I discovered I forgot to do one simple thing - salting.

After slicing the aubergine (I did simple circles) it is vital to sprinkle some salt over the top of each piece and let them sit for about 1/2 an hour. This helps to remove the bitterness.

After doing this give them a good rinse to remove all the salt.

So what next? I kept the water on the slices and coated them in some seasoned flour then popped them into so hot oil and shallow fried them until golden on both sides. The result was amazing. Crunchy outsides soft melt in your mouth insides, and my girls loved them too. Always a bonus when kids eat something new. These would make a great change for a burger too.

Heavenly Choc Cupcakes and Chickpea cutlets

The brilliant cookbook writers Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero have several books out- all of which are vegan. One of them being Vegan cupcakes take over the world.

This is their recipe for Chocolate cupcakes and the heavenly frosting.

Another recipe was for Chickpea cutlets. My husband adores them. They are reminiscent of schnitzels and taste wonderful with a squeeze of lemon.